Monday, April 2, 2007

Shaved, Shredded, or grated Parmesan cheese

Nothing beats freshly grated parmesan cheese, but it isn't always handy, and most of the time I seem to be in too much of a hurry to grate it on demand, so I use pre-cut cheese. That leads me to question, which kind to get? shaved, shredded, or grated? When fresh grated is best, it is airy and has lots of surface area so you get lots of aroma and flavor without using a huge amount. However, these same caracteristics make it loose flavor fast when bought pre-grated. The next contender is shaved. large, paper thin slices of cheese. I find that you usually get some really large ones, lots of flakes, then a bunch much like the grated. The big ones tend to be too big, and the small bits loose flavor just like the grated cheese. Finally, the winner, shredded. These are large enough to hold in the flavor while on the shelf, but small enough to give it up easily when you put it on food.